Vulnerable
by Gleek-Whovianfangirl
Summary: Set just after 'Yes Men' - A few days later, he thought he was doing well at letting no one onto how he was feeling, the marks were disappearing, he stayed out long enough to cook a decent dinner rather than eating left overs that any of his team had cooked, that was until Skye entered his room and his walls suddenly fell.


Not that anyone had noticed, but Ward was far from feeling normal the day after Lorelei's attack on the Bus and if they had they clearly kept quiet about it. He had spent more time in his bunk then anything, only coming out to get food and he had debriefed with Coulson earlier that day but other then that he just remained in his room, reading books to pass the time.

The whole ordeal had taken a toll on him both emotionally and physically. He was the one of the specialists meant to look after the team and he'd only managed to get himself possessed or whatever Lorelei had done to him and gone against his team, fighting against them, even though he had come out worse. Physically he was exhausted but that was nothing compared to the marks the Asgardian had left down his back and his arms, he'd seen them when getting out of the shower that morning and that had only brought the nightmare back to the front of his mind. He'd made sure they were all covered by wearing one of his jackets whenever he was outside his room, he'd just have to wait for them to disappear before he felt comfortable enough to remove it in front of the others.

A few days later, he thought he was doing well at letting no one onto how he was feeling, the marks were disappearing, he stayed out long enough to cook a decent dinner rather than eating left overs that any of his team had cooked, that was until Skye entered his room and his walls suddenly fell.

He'd overslept by an hour, which also meant he was forty minutes late to help Skye train now that she was finally cleared for training again. He'd eventually woken up by his own means and practically leapt out of bed to find his workout clothes. At the exact moment he was about to pull on his baggy grey shirt Skye let herself into his room and before he could react he heard a gasp. He knew exactly what she'd seen, what he had tried so hard to hide.

He clenched his fists, his shirt getting crumpled up in his left one. "Skye, get out." He growled, not turning to face her.

"Ward..No..You were hurt." She whispered and stepped in enough so that she could shut his door behind her so no one else would see. "Was this Lorelei?" She asked, knowing what the answer was already.

He threw his shirt on to his bed and turned around, Skye was looking at him, her eyes wide with concern.

"Please answer me." She sighed but didn't dare step closer, she didn't know if he was pissed or not.

"Why do I get the impression you already know the answer to that question?" He asked and crossed his arms. "This is the result of what she did. Yes." He muttered, wishing the ground would just swallow him up so they didn't have to have this conversation.

"I didn't know you..I didn't know she slept with you." She confessed, Coulson must have known so why did no one else, they could have helped him.

"Well I don't remember much of it either so there's not much surprise there. Apparently it was enjoyable for her I assume, or this wouldn't have happened." He muttered before looking down, embarrassment suddenly filling him.

She sighed heavily and stepped closer when she realised he wasn't angry at her. "I'm going to guess you haven't got Simmons to look them over and give you something to help then?"

He shook his head.

"And this is the reason you've not left this room?"

He nodded this time.

"Sit down and I'll be back in a moment." She told him before she left, not giving him time to question what she was doing.

Ward complied to what she had asked and sat on the edge of his small bed, his fingers toying with the shirt that was left beside him for a few minutes before she came back with a small bag in her arms that he'd seen when in the med bay.

"You're not getting out of this before you say anything." She told him when she saw the flash of recognition across his face. "I'm putting some of Simmon's 'magic cream' on your back because I don't want my SO to end up in a more worse state than what he's already in." She told him and sat beside him, pulling out a small tube. "And then we're talking because the only contact you've had with anyone in the last few days was spent debriefing. We don't have to talk about what happened, I just want to talk." She told him before moving again so she was sat behind him.

Ward didn't object because while she was being helpful it also saved him from having to find the supplies he needed, he trusted Skye enough to do this. "I know I should have told someone, I just didn't want to give anyone another reason to blame me for what happened." He admitted before flinching at the touch of the cool cream on his back.

"You think we blame you? We blame that batshit crazy Asgardian who brainwashed you." She told him, which made him smile to himself, she was quite blunt when she wanted to be.

"I still did all of those things though Skye. I knew what I what I was doing and yet I still did it." He went silent again when Skye ran her hand down his back.

"None of us blame you. I promise you that, you ended up the worst out of us all, it'd be stupid to blame you." She told him, not sure if her wording was reassuring or not.

"How I ended up shouldn't affect your feelings about what happened." He told her."I didn't ice her straight away, I just kind of watched her." He whispered and looked down, his back still tensed up as she rubbed the cream in. "I wasn't affected by her voice and yet I still did nothing."

Skye dropped her hand once she was done, rubbing it on the towel she'd brought with her, she wasn't completely finished but she needed to speak to him, face to face. She moved on the bed again so she was sat next to him, he didn't look up. "I imagine you were affected, you just didn't notice." She sighed. "We can't blame you for something you did without free will, no one was seriously hurt on your behalf so you have no reason to take the blame.

Skye then hesitated before she placed her hand on his arm gently, purposely avoiding where cuts were on his shoulder. "None of us think of you any different, I certainly don't." She whispered before she leaned over and made him look at her by placing her hand on his cheek. "Think of it this way, you managed to survive being possessed by a crazy Asgardian that was locked up for years, if that's not an achievement, I don't know what is." She teased, hoping to get a smile out of him and that's exactly what she got, "Sure we all would have preferred for it not to happen, but it did so just keep that in mind." She sighed, a little happier before because he was reacting in a more positive way.

"How is it you can always see the plus side of a situation, no matter how bad or weird?" He asked and placed his hand over the one that was on his arm.

"We're polar opposites remember, that's why I can and you can't. That and I'm not a robot." She giggled which got a small laugh from him.

"You're right, you're not." He smiled, not even bothering to correct her, or roll his eyes or anything at the robot remark. "Just for future reference, don't burst into my room again." He told her, a little more seriously. "People usually knock to avoid awkward confrontations." He warned.

"You walk into my room." She pointed out and raised her eyebrow.

"Yeah, after the fifth knock when I know you're still sleeping because you haven't told me to leave you alone." He smiled before bringing her hand off himself, playing with her fingers gently before she gained the courage to properly hold his hand.

"I appreciate it all, I know I don't show it but I really do. Coming to speak to you was some sort of payback because I knew you weren't feeling great, maybe more than I thought, but I just assumed you'd be more likely to let me speak to you than anyone else." He nodded at that.

"You're right. I would have kicked anyone else out. Don't tell anyone else this, but I trust you, probably more than anyone else." He confessed. "And thanks for the cream stuff. Apparently you know me better than I thought because I would have just left it." He admitted and squeezed her hand. "Anyway, I'm in a pancakes kind of mood, want some?" He asked and stood up, letting go of her hand so he could grab his shirt. He felt much better after that small talk.

"You get in pancake moods?" She asked and laughed, watching him, or more his chest, as he pulled his long sleeved shirt on. "Also, I'm finishing off your arms later."

"Doesn't everyone?" He asked and and nodded while he felt the back of his neck gently to make sure everything was covered up. "I didn't think I'd get away with it, so of course." He nodded again and held his hand out for her again. "I do make killer pancakes though." He grinned as she took his hand and pulled herself up. She reached up and sorted his collar out with one hand quickly, she flashed him a quick smile before pulling him towards the door.

"Well you've raised my expectations of you now. They better taste as good as you're making them out to be."

"I promise they will be." He smiled as he got dragged into the kitchen. Skye always managed to make him feel better, for once he didn't mind having someone around.

* * *

 **I rewatched season 1 and realised nothing was really talked about after everything that happened and I'd just like to think something like this happened.**

 **Thanks to Sparkygirl123 for beta'ing**


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